In 2006 Jonathan took all the theory, skills and experiences from his life with horses and integrated them into his own method of teaching people how to become excellent with their horses: Jonathan Field Horsemanship, Inspired by Horses®.

Jonathan refers to his program as Inspired by Horse® because it is the horses that inspired him to develop it. It is a program designed with the horse in mind through every step while developing the relationship between horse and human, or the ultimate predator with the ultimate prey animal. Teaching you to think the way a horse thinks keeps your horse interested in you, allowing you to gain access to something very special – the ultimate relationship with a horse.

With Jonathan’s natural ability to communicate, he’s made his program fun and easy to understand in a step-by-step format designed to teach you how to achieve your dreams with horses.

The Field Horsemanship Program begins with an 80% focus on teaching you the skills, abilities, talents and traits to become a horseman or horsewoman and use these skills to further your horse. The program is divided into five Courses: Leadership, Unity, Feel, Engagement and Purpose. Within these five Courses are the simple and balanced lessons you and your horse need to achieve your goals, without force and without breaking your horse’s spirit. As you advance your skills and build your horse’s trust and confidence, you will experience how the Field Horsemanship Program carries you seamlessly through Natural Herd Development techniques to establish your relationship, and into natural psychology-based training skills, to advance your horsemanship into higher performance levels.

This evolution has taken Jonathan beyond his dreams, and he’s not stopping yet. He is a gifted teacher, presenter and horseman with a driving passion to share his message. A message that is proving amazing results world wide, with the Field Horsemanship Program now being adopted in England, Ireland, Europe, Australia and all over North America. Join us in this moment in history when mankind achieves higher horsemanship and appreciates these wonderful creatures for who they are and what they’ve done for us. It’s a time of more humane methods and true understanding of the horse.

Who is Jonathan?

Jonathan was born in to a horse loving family and he’s been around them ever since. Growing up in the rural community of Bradner, British Columbia, Jonathan spent many evenings and weekends with his family and friends spending time with their horses and competing with the local 4H Club.

At the age of 13, a trip to a cattle branding with his family changed Jonathan’s focus, spurring him toward another path with horses. He was now determined to be a cowboy. For four seasons Jonathan worked at the historic Quilchena Cattle Company, one of the largest operating cattle ranches in Canada. He lived the cowboy life, nestled in a cow camp, riding the range every day, driving cows, branding calves — rain, snow or shine. Each day was spent in the saddle, and a teenaged Jonathan could imagine nothing better.

In 1995 Jonathan’s family hosted a horsemanship demonstration at their ranch. Still a cocky, brash young cowboy, Jonathan wasn’t prepared for what awaited him there. The demonstrator was Pat Parelli. Witnessing the relationship between Pat and his horses really opened Jonathan’s eyes to the possibility of a similar bond with his own horses.

Life so often shifts unexpectedly, and Jonathan decided to pursue a stable future with his family’s water well drilling company and his cowboying days were delegated to occasional opportunities. However, a well-drilling accident in the bush, 20 minutes from the nearest town, changed everything. A 500-pound steel casing fell from 20 feet in the air after its supporting chain failed, landing on Jonathan’s arm, crushing and amputating all but half-an-inch of skin on his left wrist. After nearly succumbing to blood loss and shock during the almost ten hours of travel by plane and ambulance, four doctors at Vancouver General Hospital decided to attempt the reattachment and rebuilding of Jonathan’s hand and wrist. After a remarkable and successful surgery, Jonathan awoke in a haze in the hospital’s plastics and burns unit, obviously uncertain of his future. The painful months of recovery were the beginning of a journey that would change Jonathan forever, leading him toward a life with horses and a new perspective on life overall.

Becoming a Horseman

Because Natural Horsemanship was the philosophy that had planted the seed in his mind all those years ago, Jonathan was now driven to learn as much as he could. All during his recovery period, Jonathan watched horsemanship videos hundreds of times, and gradually started applying these methods with his own horses. Over the next ten years Jonathan studied closely with a number of top instructors, learning their methods, listening to their ideas. He worked day and night toward becoming a valued and accomplished horseman: reading books, watching videos, attending clinics and studying the works of Pat Parelli, Ronnie Willis, Craig Johnson, Ray Hunt, Dr. R.M. Miller and George Morris, to name a few. Jonathan’s success is not a surprise when you consider the gracious help, time and experience so many wise and talented horseman have personally shared with him. This willingness to share knowledge has sparked Jonathan to go the extra mile to help a student or a troubled horse, sometimes late into the evening at a clinic. He’ll say the best way to repay your teachers is by passing it on to others.

Jonathan has since started hundreds of horses; trailer loaded thousands, including wild and problem horses; and has developed his own horses into the best friends and partners that you see in his demonstrations today. He has coached, mentored and shared his knowledge with thousands of people in clinics and presentations. Jonathan has been the crowd favourite and headline clinician at numerous expos throughout North America, has contributed articles for and appeared on the cover of major Equine publications in North America. CBS television aired a special about Jonathan’s life with horses in the US and Canada, and Red Bull Media House shot and produced a documentary which they showcased on their network in Europe. At his participation in Road to the Horse International 2014, Jonathan was the proud recipient of the Jack Brainard Horsemanship Award for his overall performance during the competition. A published author, Jonathan has penned his debut book “The Art of Liberty Training for Horses”. More recently, Jonathan has produced his own, one-of-a-kind International Horsemanship Education Conference, Jonathan Field and Friends, which brings some of the top horsemen in the world together for two days of education and entertainment.

In addition to being a passionate teacher and gifted presenter, Jonathan is an amazing horseman on a quest to share his knowledge with horse lovers around the world. Join him on his journey and stay forever ‘Inspired by Horses®’.

Teaching Philosophy

Jonathan’s Thoughts on Teaching

“I believe the best environment for learning is one where people feel safe and have fun. Learning anything new is always a challenge, of course, because it happens outside our current set of skills. As a consequence, that puts us outside our comfort zone, which can be overwhelming. Because the horse is learning at the same time, this challenge is sometimes compounded, which builds on our resistances and fears.

As a teacher I try to make the experience as fun as possible without ever losing focus that we are dealing with a 1,200-pound prey animal that needs to be taken very seriously for safety’s sake. I’ve learned that horsemanship is full of opposites: Have fun and be light, but study hard and take this animal very seriously; get control, but don’t be a control freak or your horse will resent you. All these challenges are what we need to overcome to become true horsemen which is definitely an achievable goal! When you learn in a supportive, non-judgmental (and fun!) environment like what’s created in my clinics, you’ll accelerate on the road to excellent horsemanship.

Inspired by Horses®

So, here’s my quest: I want people to be inspired to become great with horses; to become better than they could have imagined; to love, respect and understand the horse; to look after them with the dignity and care that all domesticated horses deserve. I teach from a perspective of ‘big picture down’. This means I always want my students to know why they are doing what they are doing. ‘What’ is the reason behind an action or request for the horse to do something. Teaching from a basis of the ‘big picture’ also means that we need to understand why the horse is acting the way he’s acting all from the prey animal point of view. Many times these discussions lead to a much deeper understanding of the horse; as a result this gives people more patience when working through a difficulty with their horse. They now understand that their horses are acting in a natural manner just as any horse would!

So if we want the horse to change, first we need to comprehend what Mother Nature is driving the horse to do and not blame the horse for this behavior or action. They have survived well without us; when we step into their world I believe we are obligated, even just out of good conscience, to take a step back and understand this wonderful animal.

The Horse’s Corpus Callosum

A simple example is how the horse’s brain works. Both horses and humans have a corpus callosum, a broad, thick band that runs from one side of the brain to the other, and the corpus callosum in the human is much more effective than in the horse. For example, what is learned on one side of the horse must be learned all over again on the other side. A quick example that you’re bound to relate to is observing that your horse is more spooky on one side than the other. Your horse may prefer you on one side more than the other. This is because they can actually be tame and friendly on one side of their body and nearly wild on the other. They will act as if they don’t know you or know anything about anything on that side. It’s because they don’t! They need to become tame and accepting on both sides of their bodies separately. Sound crazy? Well, this behavior is all about the horse’s corpus callosum, which is a little known ‘natural’ fact about this animal.

If you don’t know about how the horse’s corpus callosum functions, then predictably there will be times when you are frustrated with a horse… but it’s really not fair, is it? They are actually physically wired differently. It’s no one’s fault, and certainly there’s no justified blame. With this kind of information about the real nature of horses, we go from blaming the horse to understanding why he does what he does, and then we can formulate a plan about how to influence that behavior.

How the Horse Sees

Here’s another example of understanding the nature of horses. Did you know that horses have fixed lenses in their eyes? In the wild, a horse spends most of his life with his head down eating. He doesn’t need to change his view of the world much, and it’s very useful for him to be able to see predators on the horizon at the same time as the grass at his feet. This makes it necessary for the horse to move his head up and down to change focus. So if we tie the horse’s head down and the horse can’t raise his head to see something far away, you can imagine why this would concern a horse, especially since a horse is a prey animal wired to flight and fear anything different. If the head is tied down, the horse can’t see well enough to realize that everything is fine — which can lead to unwanted behavior.

Comprehending these ‘natural facts’ about horses helps to understand the horse from the ‘big picture,’ which is to truly understand the species we are dealing with. These realizations lead to comprehension of the ethology of the horse (ethology: study of animals in their natural habitat), and to honoring them for who they are.

You Don’t Get to Vote

As we build our way from the big picture, the next thing people need to learn is what to do NOW! For instance, “What step do I take in any given moment?” This is a hard question to answer when it comes to horses for two reasons: (1) There are so many opinions about what to do, and (2) Everything is changing so quickly in the moment that the horse has already moved on to another thing when many people are still trying to deal with the first problem.

I solve this situation with a regime that starts with a few ‘no vote’ items (not optional) that people need to always keep at the front of their brains. Like personal space. People tend to let their horses shove or push them around. This is not acceptable! First, it’s a major safety concern. Second, by nature the horse is a born follower; if he shoves you out of the way he quickly sums up the fact that you are not a worthy leader. That’s followed by the realization that he’s by himself so he becomes flighty, spooky, and runs home or seeks out a herd mate.

I’ve created a results-based program, a series of steps and concepts, you can study to become instinctual about what to do in any challenge with a horse, and how to approach the horse in any situation. This is all about becoming a horseman: someone who thinks like a horse and knows how to help the horse understand what they want. A true horseman can cause a desire in the horse to actually want to participate.

My Quest

My quest is to become a better teacher with every horse and every person. My vision is to have these two species come together in concert, for them to understand their distinctive natures, and for human and horse to willingly cooperate in a natural, beautiful union.

Thank you, Jonathan and Angie, for everything that you do, especially for making the world a better place for horses and their people.

Lesley YoungSalt Spring Island, BC

Jonathan’s courses are wonderful! I would recommend them to any level of horse person. Jonathan teaches the primary and secondary language of the horse. With this knowledge, one can develop games and exercises that are a fun learning experience for you and your individual horse. You and your horse are taught to think, not to mindlessly learn tasks by rote. Your horse performs and participates because he wants to, not because he is forced to.

Donna CarlyleOkotoks, Alberta

Thank you very, very much for all your sound advice and caring attitude. You are a wonderful person. There should be more people like you.

Joan CableNorth Vancouver, BC

I have a very high opinion of Jonathan Field and have nothing but praise for him. He is a gentleman, an excellent horseman, and articulate teacher, and just a nice guy.

Robert M. MillerDVM, US Award-winning author, lecturer, expert in animal behaviour, developer of internationally-acclaimed scientific-based system of training newborn foals.

I’ve had the pleasure of working with Jonathan on different occasions. He took one of my jumping clinics, which shows that he’s a very serious student! Obviously, jumping was a little foreign to him, but because he’s such a great horseman, he totally understood the concept – which showed to me how good a horseman he is. I made a point of watching Jonathan at the Mane Event; he’s a tremendous speaker and he relates his knowledge to the crowd very well. Jonathan is very creative and determined to pass on the right message – his general approach to horsemanship is very unique, in my opinion, but also very correct. What impressed me the most is how he’s able to portray what he knows and what he’s learned over the years, and he completely relates that to the crowd. His performance was incredible; not only was it technically interesting, it was visually spectacular. I think Jonathan Field is a tremendous horseman and a tremendous teacher, and I have the utmost respect for him.

Throughout my 30 years in the movie industry, I have seen an incredible number of horse trainers. But I must say that Jonathan Field is the most natural and connected person to horses that I’ve ever seen in my life. His training techniques will make your horse love you and look forward to being with you. Jonathan’s values, compassion and integrity carry over to every aspect of his life, including how he relates to his family, friends and clients.

Danny VirtueCanada. Leading figure in movies, television and commercials as a Director, Stunt Coordinator, Stunt Man and Move Horse Trainer. Network Executive Producer with television series that have been syndicated in 80 countries.

I think Jonathan’s horsemanship and integrity are tops. He’s been very helpful in getting my students to understand the techniques and importance of basic horsemanship and how that helps them and their horses excel. Above and beyond that, what Jonathan teaches and propelled my students to become much better jump riders. I love Jonathan!

Bridgette FlynnCanada. 1978 Mamber of the Canadian National Eventing Team, Long-listed for the 1980 Canadian Olympic Team for Eventing, British Columbia Show Jumping Team Member, Show Manager, Teacher, Coach, Competitor at National Grand Prix Level in North America

I had the privilege to watch you perform and do several presentations. I have been in the horse world all of my life and watched a lot of great horsemen, but I have to say I have never been more impressed. The bond and trust you have with your horses is just incredible. I admire how you are always trying to explore new ways and learn about the different disciplines. You are truly an inspiration.